My Brain Is Deeply Confused After Trying This 1-Ingredient Frozen Dessert, But I'm Honestly Kind Of Obsessed With It
I recently found myself on the Jell-O side of TikTok — Jell-O Tok, if you will — and as someone who grew up eating a lot of the stuff, it entertained me endlessly. Rainbow Jell-O! Hot Jell-O as a cold remedy! Even watermelon Jell-O, people.
WarnerMedia / Via giphy.com
But only one particularly surprising iteration of the sweet, jiggly snack made its rounds to millions of For You pages across the globe: and that's frozen Jell-O.
After I watched TikTok creator @linder_surprise bite into a singular "crystal" of frozen Jell-O, which produced the most strangely satisfying, icy crunch of any food item I've ever known, I was hooked. And I was far from alone. TikTok was literally filled with countless videos from other creators trying the viral snack for themselves, and with every video I watched, my visceral curiosity became stronger and stronger.
@linder_surprise yooo this is ssooo gud ???? #fyp #asmr #frozenjello
? original sound - Linda
The texture? Baffling. The sound?! Soothing beyond comprehension. And the vast majority of viewers definitely shared my enthusiasm.
So I obviously ran to my local grocery store to gather the sole ingredient I'd need to replicate it in my own kitchen.
Somehow all the TikTokers I watched managed to get their hands on the Starburst brand gelatin powder in the All Pink flavor. I could not! So I grabbed a packet of good ol' fashioned Strawberry since I'm 99% sure the pink All Pink is strawberry-flavored...but if I'm wrong, feel free to drag me in the comments.
To start my frozen Jell-O journey, I made Jell-O. I guess the directions could vary from box to box and brand to brand, but in my case, I just dissolved the gelatin powder in 1 cup of boiling water, stirred in 1 cup of cold water, and poured it all into a small, rectangular container I had laying around.
Ross Yoder
Like so!
I actually ended up very lightly greasing my container with some neutral-flavored oil (I used canola) before adding in the warm gelatin mixture, in hope that it'd help the set gelatin release more easily. It did not!
We'll get to that shortly so you can avoid my mistakes.
I nestled the container beside a bowl of refrigerated garlic (don't ask) and two identical, quarter-full jars of pickle chips (also don't ask) and let it set up. Per the instructions on my box of Jell-O, it took just about four hours.
Once things were nice and jiggly, I attempted to carefully and neatly unmold the gelatin block.
Ross Yoder
I failed.
I learned after the fact that you're actually supposed to dip Jell-O molds in hot water so the whole thing slides onto your cutting board in one clean mass, so do as I say and not as I do and you'll be fine.
Regardless, I salvaged the more-or-less unbroken pieces and sliced them into rectangles that looked similar in size to the ones I saw on TikTok — about two inches long.
And I popped them into my freezer to get nice and icy.
After letting my Jell-O blocks hang out in the freezer overnight, I was left with a plate of frozen Jell-O pieces that definitely didn't resemble raw tuna in any way, shape, or form.
But looks aside, it's really the texture that's the star of the show here. It's...kind of one of those things that's more or less indescribable — you just have to try it for yourself — but I'll attempt to describe it nonetheless.
You know how popsicles freeze into solid ice blocks that you can't exactly bite into without shattering a tooth or two — until they've melted a bit, at least? Even fresh out of the freezer, these frozen Jell-O pieces are mind-blowingly soft and contain super tiny ice crystals, which makes them texturally similar to, say, Italian ice. But far more unique, TBH. There's an added bounciness and subtle chew to the Jell-O that truly has to be tasted to be believed.
Instead of letting these slowly melt, like you would a popsicle, biting straight into them and chewing is a much more practical eating method. If you're like, "my teeth could NEVER," just know that I have the world's most sensitive teeth and didn't find the sensation of biting into the frozen Jell-O to be at all unpleasant. In fact, I'd say the opposite. It was weirdly so satisfying.
Ross Yoder
That said, this frozen treat might not be everyone's cup of tea. My partner took a bite and said it tasted like "something that sat in the freezer for too long." I respectfully disagreed, but I also kind of understood what he meant. Actually, I understood exactly what he was trying to say: the slightly-squishy popsicle texture wasn't not reminiscent of some frozen dessert you forgot about six months ago. So whether or not you enjoy the sensation seems to vary pretty heavily from person to person.
Rooster Teeth / Via giphy.com
Still, if you have a spare dollar laying around to buy a small box of Jell-O, I'd highly recommend giving this TikTok trend a try — especially if you have kids. TBH, I have a feeling that kids would be absolutely obsessed with it.
And when you get around to trying it, let me know what you thought in the comments below!
